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THE 


Teaching  Office  of  the  Church. 


BY 


y 

CHARLES  HODGE,  D.D. 


NEW  YORK: 

BOARD  OF  FOREION  MISSIONS, 

No.  23  Centre  Street. 


1882. 


'I 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH  * 


“  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  ■ 
Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20. 

We  learn  from  the  first  chapter  of  Acts  that  Christ  showed  himself 
alive  after  his  passion,  by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  the  apos¬ 
tles  forty  days,  and  speaking  to  them  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the 
kingdom  of  God.  We  have  four,  more  or  less  independent,  histories 
of  these  forty  days.  Circumstances  mentioned  by  one  historian  are 
omitted  by  another,  so  that  all  must  be  collated  in  order  to  obtain  a  full 
account  of  the  parting  instructions  of  Christ  to  his  disciples.  The 
passage  just  recited,  however,  contains  the  substance  of  his  last  injunc¬ 
tions.  According  to  the  evangelist  Matthew,  our  Lord,  on  the  morning 
of  his  resurrection,  appeared  to  the  women  who  visited  his  sepulchre,  and 
said  to  them,  “  All  hail !  Be  not  afraid  :  go  tell  my  brethren  that  they 
go  into  Galilee,  and  there  shall  they  see  me.” 

Then  the  eleven  disciples  went  away  into  Galilee,  into  a  mountain 
where  Jesus  had  appointed  them,  and  when  they  saw  him  they  wor¬ 
shipped  him.  It  was  on  that  mountain,  and  to  those  worshipping  dis¬ 
ciples,  that  Jesus  addressed  the  words  of  the  text. 

If  special  interest  and  authority  are  due  to  any  one  communication  of 
Christ  more  than  to  others,  they  must  attach  to  words  uttered  under 
these  peculiar  circumstances.  He  had  finished  his  work  on  earth ;  he 
had  risen  from  the  dead  ;  he  was  on  the  eve  of  his  final  departure  ;  he 
was  now  constituting  his  Church ;  he  was  in  the  act  of  delivering  its 
charter.  He  then  and  there  gave  his  disciples  their  commission,  pre¬ 
scribed  their  duties,  and  gave  them  the  promise  of  his  perpetual  presence. 

To  whom  is  the  commission  given  ?  What  duty  does  it  prescribe  ? 
How  is  that  duty  to  be  performed  ?  What  are  the  powers  here  conveyed  ? 
And  what  is  the  import  of  the  promise  here  given  ?  These  are  ques¬ 
tions  on  which  volumes  have  been  written,  and  on  whose  solution  the 
most  momentous  interests  depend. 

I  propose  to  call  your  attention  to  only  one  of  these  questions,  viz,: 
How  is  the  duty  prescribed  in  this  commission  to  be  performed  ?  or  how 

*  A  Sermon  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  preached  in  the  church  on  University  Place, 
New  York,  on  Sabbath  evening.  May  7,  1848,  at  the  request  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Published  at  the  request  of  the  Exec¬ 
utive  Committee.  [Reprinted  from  the  Missionary  Chronicle,  June,  1S48.] 


4 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHUKCH, 


is  the  end  here  set  before  the  Church  to  be  accomplished  ?  We  answer, 
by  teaching. 

This  appears  in  the  first  place  from  the  nature  of  the  end  to  be  ac¬ 
complished,  and  from  the  express  words  of  the  commission.  The  com¬ 
mand  is  to  make  disciples  of  all  nations.  A  disciple,  however,  is  both  a 
follower  and  a  learner.  If  the  nations  are  to  be  made  the  disciples  of 
Christ,  they  must  know  his  doctrines  and  obey  his  commands.  This  is 
to  be  done  by  baptism  and  by  teaching.  The  command  is  to  make  dis¬ 
ciples  of  all  nations  by  baptizing  and  teaching.  These  are,  therefore, 
the  two  divinely-appointed  means  for  attaining  the  end  contemplated. 

Baptism,  as  a  Christian  ordinance,  is  a  washing  with  water  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Grhost.  Its  main  idea  is  that  of 
consecration.  The  person  baptized  takes  God  the  Father  to  be  his 
father,  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  to  be  his  Lord  and  Redeemer,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  be  his  sanctifier.  That  is,  he  accepts  the  covenant  of 
grace  and  professes  allegiance  to  his  covenant  God.  Every  one  therefore 
who  is  baptized  becomes  a  disciple.  He  is  enrolled  among  the  professed 
children  of  God  and  worshippers  of  Christ. 

Baptism,  however,  in  the  case  of  adults  implies  faith.  It  is  in  fact 
the  public  avowal  of  faith.  And  faith  supposes  knowledge.  No  man 
can  take  God  to  be  his  father  unless  he  knows  who  God  is.  Nor  can 
he  take  Christ  to  be  his  Redeemer  unless  he  knows  who  Christ  is  and 
what  he  has  done.  Nor  can  he  take  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  his  sanctifier 
unless  acquainted  with  his  person  and  office.  Knowledge  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  religion,  and  therefore  Christ  has  made  it  the  great 
comprehensive  duty  of  his  Church  to  teach.  She  does  nothing  unless 
she  does  this,  and  she  accomplishes  all  other  parts  of  her  mission  just 
in  proportion  as  she  fulfills  this,  her  first  and  greatest  duty. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  the  paramount  importance  of  this  duty  ap¬ 
pears  from  the  kind  of  knowledge  which  is  necessary  to  make  men  the 
true  and  worthy  disciples  of  Christ.  It  will  not  be  denied  that  the 
Church  is  bound  to  teach  what  God  has  revealed  in  his  word.  If,  then, 
we  would  understand  the  nature  of  the  duty  Christ  has  enjoined  upon 
his  Church  we  must  consider  that  system  of  truth  which  he  has  commanded 
her  to  communicate  to  all  nations.  It  comprehends  a  knowledge  of  the 
being  and  attributes  of  God  and  of  bis  relation  to  the  world.  These,  how¬ 
ever,  are  the  profoundest  themes  of  human  thought ;  the  most  difficult  sub¬ 
jects  to  be  rightly  comprehended,  and  yet  absolutely  essential  to  all  true  re¬ 
ligion.  The  God,  moreover,  whom  we  are  to  make  known,  is  revealed 
as  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  He  must  be  received  and  wor¬ 
shipped  as  such  by  every  man  who  becomes  a  Christian.  This  cannot  be 
done  without  knowledge,  and  this  knowledge  can  only  be  communicated 
by  teaching.  Even  in  a  Christian  country  it  requires  early  and  long- 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


5 


continued  instruction  to  imbue  the  mind  with  any  correct  apprehension 
of  the  nature  of  God  as  he  is  revealed  in  the  Bible.  Among  heathen 
nations  the  task  must  be  an  hundred  fold  more  difficult.  The  pagan 
mind  is  prepossessed  with  false  conceptions  of  the  divine  Being  :  the  terms 
by  which  he  is  designated  are  all  associated  with  degraded  ideas  of  his 
nature.  The  very  medium  of  instruction  has  to  be  created.  A  propo¬ 
sition  which  to  our  minds,  and  in  our  sense  of  the  words  employed,  ex¬ 
presses  truth,  must  of  necessity  convey  error  to  the  minds  of  those  who 
attach  a  different  meaning  to  the  words  we  use.  What  is  God  to  the 
mind  of  a  heathen  ?  What  is  law  ?  What  is  sin  ?  What  is  virtue  ? 
Not  what  we  mean  by  these  terms,  but  something  altogether  different. 
Without  a  miracle,  correct  knowledge  can  be  communicated  to  such  minds 
only  by  a  long  process  of  explanations  or  corrections.  The  heathen  have 
a  great  deal  to  unlearn  before  they  can  learn  anything  aright.  Their 
minds  must  be  emptied  of  the  foul  and  deformed  images  with  which  they 
are  filled,  before  it  is  possible  that  the  forms  of  purity  and  truth  can 
enter  and  dwell  there. 

The  same  remarks  are  applicable  to  what  the  Bible  teaches  concerning 
man  ;  his  origin,  his  apostasy,  his  present  state,  his  future  destiny.  No 
man  can  be  a  Christian  without  a  competent  knowledge  of  these  subjects. 
They  are,  however,  subjects  in  themselves  of  great  difficulty ;  the  pre¬ 
possessions  of  the  heathen  are  opposed  to  the  scriptural  representations 
on  these  topics  ;  all  their  previous  opinions  and  convictions  must  be 
renounced,  before  the  truth  concerning  the  nature  and  condition  of  man 
can  be  communicated  to  their  minds. 

Again,  to  be  Christians,  men  must  understand  the  plan  of  salvation  ; 
they  must  know  Jesus  Christ,  the  constitution  of  his  person,  and  the  na¬ 
ture  of  his  work  ;  they  must  know  how  we  are  made  partakers  of  the 
redemption  purchased  by  Christ,  and  the  nature  and  office  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Again,  to  be  Christians,  men  must  know  the  law  of  God,  that  perfect 
rule  of  duty  which  unfolds  the  obligations  which  we  owe  to  him  as 
creatures,  as  sinners,  and  as  the  subjects  of  redemption.  But  the  hea¬ 
then,  alas,  have  been  taught  to  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil,  to  put 
sweet  for  bitter,  and  bitter  for  sweet.  Their  moral  perceptions  are 
darkened  and  their  moral  sensibilities  hardened;  so  that  the  acquisition 
of  correct  knowledge  on  their  part  of  the  pure  law  of  God  must  be  a 
tedious  and  gradual  operation. 

Such  is  a  meagre  outline  of  the  knowledge  which  the  Church  is  bound 
to  communicate,  and  without  which  the  nations  cannot  be  saved.  We 
have  no  adequate  conception  of  the  magnitude  or  difficulty  of  the  task. 
We  forget  that  we  have  been  slowly  acquiring  this  knowledge  all  our 
lives ,  that  oui  mothers  gave  us  our  first  lessons  in  this  divine  science 


6 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


before  we  could  speak  ;  that  from  our  infancy  it  has  been  constantly 
inculcated  in  the  family,  in  the  sanctuary  and  in  the  school-room ;  that 
this  heavenly  light  has  always  beamed  around  us  and  upon  us  from  the 
Bible,  from  the  institutions  of  the  country  and  from  innumerable  other 
sources.  Can  the  heathen  then  learn  it  in  a  day  ?  Because  the  English 
language  is  familiar  to  us,  can  it  be  taught  to  foreigners  in  an  hour  ? 
If  we  undertake  the  work  of  making  disciples  of  all  nations,  we  ought 
to  understand  what  it  is  we  have  to  do.  It  is  no  work  of  miracle  or 
magic.  As  far  as  we  are  concerned  it  is  a  sober,  rational  enterprise. 
We  undertake  to  change  the  opinions  and  convictions  of  all  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  the  world  on  the  whole  department  of  religious  and  moral  truth, 
the  widest  domain  of  human  knowledge.  This  is  the  work  which  Christ 
has  assigned  to  his  Church.  And  it  is  to  be  accomplished  by  the  or¬ 
dinary  process  of  teaching ;  not  by  inspiration,  nor  by  miraculous  inter¬ 
ference  of  any  kind.  It  is,  indeed,  a  stupendous  work,  and  no  man  can 
address  himself  to  it  in  a  proper  spirit  who  does  not  so  regard  it.  It 
would  be  comparatively  a  small  matter  to  bring  all  nations  to  speak  our 
language  and  to  adopt  the  civil  and  social  institutions  of  our  country. 
Stupendous  as  is  the  work  assigned  us,  we  cannot  flinch  from  it.  It 
must  be  done,  and  we  must  do  it. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  this  subject  which  must  not  be  overlooked. 
The  system  of  truth  of  which  we  have  spoken  cannot  be  taught  in  ab¬ 
stract  propositions,  as  though  it  were  a  mere  philosophy.  It  must  be 
taught  by  the  Church,  just  as  God  has  taught  it  in  his  word;  in  history, 
in  types,  in  allegories,  in  prophecies,  in  psalms,  in  didactic  assertions,  in 
exhortations,  warnings  and  precepts.  No  man  can  understand  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  without  understanding  the  Bible  itself.  He  must  know  the 
history  of  the  creation,  of  the  fall  and  of  God’s  dealings  with  his  ancient 
people.  He  must  be  acquainted  with  the  Mosaic  institutions,  and  with 
the  experience  of  the  saints  as  recorded  in  the  Psalms.  He  must  know 
the  history  of  Christ  as  predicted  by  the  prophets  and  as  recorded  by 
the  evangelists.  He  must  hear  Christ’s  own  words  and  read  for  himself 
what  the  apostles  have  delivered.  If  we  teach  Christianity,  we  must 
teach  the  Bible  and  the  whole  Bible.  We  must  convey  the  truth  to 
others  in  the  very  facts  and  forms  in  which  God  has  communicated  it  to 
us.  The  two  are  absolutely  inseparable ;  and  woe  to  those  who  would 
attempt  to  divide  them — who  would  undertake  to  tell  men,  iu  their  own 
way  and  in  their  own  forms,  what  they  think  the  Bible  means,  by  pop¬ 
ular  discourse  or  otherwise,  instead  of  teaching  the  Bible  itself.  Let  us 
then,  Christian  brethren,  calmly  look  our  work  distinctly  in  the  face. 
The  precise,  definite  task  which  Christ  has  enjoined  upon  his  Church  is 
to  teach  the  Bible,  and  the  whole  Bible,  to  every  creature  under  heaven. 

It  never  could  have  entered  into  the  mind  of  any  man  that  this  work 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


7 


could  be  accomplished  in  any  other  way  than  by  a  regular  process  of 
education,  were  it  not  for  some  vague  impression  that  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  some  way  supersedes  the  necessity  of  the  ordinary 
methods  of  instruction.  This  is  a  fatal  delusion.  The  Bible  teaches  us 
that  the  Spirit  operates  with  and  by  the  truth  upon  the  hearts  of  men. 
As  far  as  we  know,  either  from  Scripture  or  observation,  he  never  oper¬ 
ates  on  the  minds  of  adults  in  any  other  way.  The  knowledge  of  the 
truth  is  therefore  a  preliminary  condition  to  the  experience  of  this 
divine  influence.  This  knowledge  the  Spirit  does  not  communicate. 
He  has  revealed  it  in  the  word.  It  is  the  business  of  the  Church  to 
make  it  known.  The  office  of  the  Church  and  that  of  the  Spirit  are 
therefore  perfectly  distinct.  Both  are  necessary.  Neither  supersedes 
the  other.  The  Church  teaches  the  truth ;  the  Spirit  gives  that  truth 
effect.  He  opens  the  mind  to  perceive  the  excellence  of  the  things  of 
God,  he  applies  them  to  the  conscience,  he  writes  them  upon  the  heart ; 
but  the  truth  must  be  known  before  it  is  thus  effectually  applied  to  the 
sanctification  and  salvation  of  the  soul.  It  is  therefore  in  perfect  con¬ 
sistency  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit’s  influence  that  we  assert  the 
absolute  necessity  of  knowledge,  and  therefore  of  instruction. 

III.  A  third  argument  in  support  of  the  doctrine  that  the  great  duty 
of  the  Church  is  to  teach  is  drawn  from  the  fact  that  the  Church  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  has,  by  divine  appointment,  been  an  educa¬ 
tional  institute.  This  is  and  ever  has  been  her  distinctive  character. 
She  is  indeed  an  association  for  the  worship  of  God  and  for  the  cure  of 
souls,  but  she  is  peculiarly  and  distinctively  an  organization  for  main¬ 
taining  and  promoting  the  truth. 

To  the  ancient  Church  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  not  only  to 
be  preserved  and  transmitted,  but  to  be  taught  to  the  people.  The 
whole  ritual  service  was  a  mode  of  teaching.  The  morning  and  evenino- 
sacrifice  was  a  daily  lesson  on  sin  and  atonement.  Every  rite  was  the 
visible  form  of  some  religious  truth.  Every  festival  was  a  commem¬ 
oration  and  a  prophecy.  The  Sabbath  was  a  perpetual  annuncia¬ 
tion  of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  of  the  being  of  a  personal 
God.  There  were  thus  daily,  monthly  and  yearly  services  all  designed 
for  the  instruction  of  the  people.  The  sabbatical  year  and  the  year  of 
jubilee  were  prolonged  periods  for  setting  forth  the  great  truths  of 
morals  and  redemption.  Besides  all  this  there  was  a  distinct  order  of 
men,  one-twelfth  of  the  whole  population,  set  apart  for  this  purpose. 
The  priests  were  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  temple,  the  august  school 
of  God,  and  the  Levites  scattered  over  the  whole  land.  Into  this  system 
the  synagogues  were  incorporated,  where  the  Scriptures  were  read  and 
expounded  to  the  people.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  whole 
literature  of  the  Hebrews  was  religious.  Their  only  histories  were  the 


8 


THE  TEACHING  OFEICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


record  of  God’s  dealings  with  his  Church ;  their  poetry  was  devotional 
or  didactic ;  their  fictions  were  divine  parables ;  their  orators,  inspired 
prophets.  We  cannot  conceive  of  a  set  of  institutions  better  adapted  to 
imbue  a  whole  nation  with  religious  knowledge  than  those  ordained  of 
God  under  the  old  dispensation. 

Another  very  instructive  fact  is  this:  when  God  designed  to  extend 
the  olfer  of  salvation  beyond  the  limits  of  Judea  he  subjected  the  sur¬ 
rounding  nations  for  three  centuries  to  a  course  of  preliminary  educa¬ 
tion.  Two  hundred  and  eighty  years  before  Christ  the  Scriptures,  or  at 
least  the  Pentateuch,  were  translated  into  Greek,  the  language  of  the 
civilized  world.  Jews  were  congregated  in  every  city  of  the  Roman 
empire.  Synagogues  were  everywhere  established,  in  which  the  true 
God  was  worshipped  and  his  word  expounded.  Hundreds  and  thousands 
of  devout  proselytes  were  gathered  from  among  the  heathen  and  in¬ 
structed  out  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  taught  to  look  for  the 
salvation  that  was  to  come  out  of  Zion.  A  broad  foundation  was  thus 
silently  and  laboriously  laid  for  the  Christian  Church  in  every  part  of 
the  civilized  world.  It  was  the  special  mission  of  the  apostles  to  go  over 
the  Roman  empire  and,  selecting  those  points  where  the  ground  had  been 
thus  previously  prepared,  to  establish  churches  as  centres  of  light  to  the 
surrounding  regions.  They  always  when  they  entered  a  city  went  first 
to  the  synagogue,  and  there  endeavored  to  convince  the  Jews  and  pros¬ 
elytes  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  and  that  there  was  no  other  name  given 
under  heaven  whereby  men  must  be  saved.  Sometimes  the  whole  assem- 
blv,  with  their  elders,  believed  and  became  a  Christian  church.  At 
others  only  a  portion  embraced  the  gospel.  Those  the  apostles  separated 
and  organized  into  a  new  church  or  Christian  synagogue. 

We  are  apt  to  forget  all  this,  and  to  think  the  work  of  the  apostles 
was  analogous  to  that  of  our  modern  missionaries.  It  was,  however, 
essentially  different.  The  apostles  preached  in  a  great  measure  to  the 
worshippers  of  Jehovah  ;  to  men  whose  hearts  and  consciences  had  been 
educated  under  his  word  and  institutions  ;  to  men  who  had  comparatively 
little  to  unlearn,  whose  general  views  of  the  nature  of  religion  were  cor¬ 
rect,  and  who  were  in  earnest  expectation  of  the  salvation  which  the 
apostles  preached,  and  with  whom  they  could  communicate  in  a  compe¬ 
tent  language.  We  need  not  remark  on  the  different  character  and  con¬ 
dition  of  the  people  among  whom  the  modern  messengers  of  the  gospel 
are  called  to  labor ;  men  whose  minds  are  dark,  degraded  and  inaccessi¬ 
ble,  having  no  ideas  in  common  with  us  and  no  terms  of  correct  religious 
import.  Our  missionaries  have  to  do  the  long  preparatory  work,  which 
the  apostles  found  done  to  their  hands.  We  should  therefore  commit  a 
fatal  error  if  we  should  infer  from  the  itinerant  character  of  the  apos¬ 
tles’  labors  that  our  missionaries  should  pass  in  like  manner  from  city 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


9 


to  city,  abiding  only  a  few  months  at  any  one  place.  It  would  be  most 
unreasonable  to  expect  that  this  mode  of  operating  would  now  be  attend¬ 
ed  with  a  success  analogous  to  that  which  followed  similar  labors  of  the 
apostles,  under  circumstances  essentially  different.  The  great  fact  how¬ 
ever  is  undeniable  and  most  instructive,  that  God  did  prepare  the  way 
for  the  apostles,  by  subjecting  the  population  of  the  chief  cities  of  the 
Roman  empire,  for  nearly  three  centuAes,  to  a  preliminary  process  of 
religious  culture. 

As  then  God  made  the  Church  under  the  old  dispensation  an  educa¬ 
tional  institute,  as  he  prepared  the  way  for  the  dissemination  of  the 
gospel  by  previously  causing  Judaism  to  be  extensively  diffused,  so  also 
in  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Church,  he  gave  it  a  distinctive 
educational  character.  Christ  appointed  a  set  of  men  as  teachers  ;  he 
made  provision  for  their  being  continued ;  he  promised  to  be  with  them 
in  all  ages,  and  to  give  them  by  his  Spirit  the  qualifications  for  their 
work.  When  the  apostles  went  forth,  it  was  in  the  character  of  teachers. 
They  everywhere  established  churches,  which  were  schools  presided  over 
by  6i6a(jK.aloL  [teachers].  Aptness  to  teach  was  made  an  essential  requisite 
for  the  office  of  a  Presbyter.  Ministers  were  commanded  to  give  attend¬ 
ance  to  reading,  to  exhortation,  to  doctrine  or  instruction,  that  their 
profiting  might  appear  unto  all.  In  support  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
great  business  of  the  Church  is  to  teach,  that  this  is  the  divinely-ap¬ 
pointed  means  by  which  she  is  to  make  disciples,  we  appeal,  therefore, 
not  to  this  or  that  particular  passage  of  Scripture,  but  to  the  whole  de¬ 
sign  or  organization  of  the  Church  as  laid  down  in  the  word  of  God. 

IV.  What  God  has  thus  clearly  taught  in  his  word,  he  has  not  less 
impressively  taught  by  his  providence.  If  the  history  of  the  Church 
teaches  any  one  lesson  more  distinctly  than  any  other,  it  is  that  just  in 
proportion  as  she  has  been  faithful  as  a  teacher,  she  has  been  successful 
in  promoting  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom ;  and  just  in  proportion  as  she 
has  failed  in  teaching,  she  failed  in  everything  pure  and  good. 

In  proof  of  this  point  we  appeal  in  the  first  instance  to  the  contrast 
between  the  Romish  and  Protestant  portions  of  Christendom.  The 
characteristic  difference  between  the  popish  and  Protestant  churches  is 
that  the  former  is  a  ritual  and  the  latter  a  teaching  Church.  In  the 
former  the  minister  is  a  priest,  in  the  latter  he  is  an  instructor.  The 
functions  of  the  Romish  priesthood  are  the  offering  of  sacrifices,  the  ad¬ 
ministration  of  rites,  and  the  absolution  of  penitents.  Public  worship 
in  the  Romish  Church  is  conducted  in  a  language  which  the  people  do 
not  understand,  and  consists  largely  in  ceremonies  which  they  do  not 
comprehend.  The  Scriptures  are  a  sealed  book  among  them,  and  the 
necessity  of  knowledge  to  faith  or  holiness  is  expressly  denied.  The 
consequence  is  that  under  a  dead  uniformity  of  outward  show  there  is 


10 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


in  tbe  Romisli  Church  a  mass  of  ignorance,  heresy,  irreligion,  supersti¬ 
tion,  immorality,  such,  as  probably  never  existed  within  the  pale  of  any 
Christian  communion  on  earth. 

On  the  other  hand,  among  Protestants  the  minister  is  a  teacher.  He 
leads  indeed  in  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary  and  he  administers  the  sac¬ 
raments,  but  his  great  official  business  is  to  minister  in  word  and  doctrine. 
The  sacraments  in  his  hands  are*not  magic  rites,  but  methods  of  instruc¬ 
tion,  as  well  as  seals  of  the  covenant.  It  is  in  Protestant  countries,  ac¬ 
cordingly,  we  find  knowledge  and  religion  in  a  far  higher  state  than  in 
any  other  portions  of  the  world. 

Again,  if  we  compare  different  Protestant  countries  we  shall  find  that 
religion  fiourishes  uniformly  and  everywhere  exactly  in  proportion  as  the 
Church  performs  her  duty  as  a  teacher.  In  England,  notwithsta.nding 
the  abundant  provision  made  for  the  support  of  the  clergy,  yet  from  the 
enormous  extent  of  many  of  the  parishes  and  from  the  predominance  of 
the  liturgical  element  in  the  constitution  of  the  .Established  Church,  a 
large  part  of  the  population  has  been  left  uninstructed,  and,  were  it  not 
for  the  exertions  of  other  denominations,  would  be  in  a  state  little  better 
than  heathenism.  In  Scotland,  on  the  other  hand,  religion  is  more  gen¬ 
erally  diffused  and  has  a  stronger  hold  on  the  mass  of  the  people  than 
in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  The  reason  is  that  the  Church  of 
Scotland  has  from  the  beginning  been  pre-eminently  a  teaching  Church. 
Notwithstanding  the  trammels  of  an  establishment  and  patronage  under 
which  she  has  acted,  she  understood  her  vocation ;  she  recognized  her 
duty  to  teach  the  people,  and  the  whole  people,  Christianity  as  a  system 
of  doctrines  and  duties,  and  she  has  therefore  succeeded  in  making  Scot¬ 
land  the  most  religious  country  in  the  world. 

It  matters  not,  however,  where  we  look,  Avherever  we  find  a  teaching 
Church  there  we  find  religion  prosperous  ;  and  wherever  we  find  a  ritual, 
an  indolent,  or  a  ranting  or  merely  declaiming  Church,  there  we  find  re¬ 
ligion  degenerated  either  into  superstition  or  fanaticism. 

As  a  final  appeal  on  this  subject  we  refer  to  the  history  of  missions. 
There  are  only  three  methods  by  which  Christianity  has  ever  been  estab¬ 
lished  among  heathen  nations.  The  first  is  that  adopted  by  the  apos¬ 
tles,  who  established  churches  in  various  important  places  where  the 
ground  had  been  long  under  a  process  of  preparatory  culture,  which 
churches  became  centres  of  radiation  for  the  surrounding  people.  Eiom 
such  centres  the  gospel  was  extended  in  ever-widening  circles,  until 
their  circumferences  met  and  compassed  the  Avhole  Roman  world. 

The  second  method  is  that  in  Avhich,  by  force  or  fraud,  a  people  has 
been  brought  to  submit  to  Christian  rites,  and  to  an  external  compliance 
with  the  forms  of  Christian  worship.  Thus  the  Franks  ivere  converted 
under  Clovis,  and  the  Saxons  under  Charlemagne ;  and  thus  was  Chris- 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


11 


tianity  introduced  into  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  by  the  Jesuits  into  Par¬ 
aguay,  China  and  the  Indies.  The  characteristic  of  this  method  is  that 
it  is  conversion  without  instruction.  It  implies  no  change  of  opinions, 
no  change  of  heart,  no  change  of  life.  It  is  simply  a  change  of  name 
and  external  ceremonies.  In  some  cases  this  nominal  conversion  is  fol¬ 
lowed  sooner  or  later  by  instruction,  and  a  real  reception  of  the  gospel 
is  the  ultimate  result.  The  Saxons,  who  long  remained  baptized  heathen, 
are  noAv  the  stamina  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches.  In  other 
cases  instruction  does  not  follow,  and  then  the  consequence  is  that  the 
people  remain  Christians  only  in  name,  or,  when  the  external  pressure 
is  removed,  they  relapse  into  heathenism.  The  Indians  of  Mexico  and 
Peru  are  no  more  Christians  now  than  they  were  in  the  days  of  Cortez 
and  Pizarro,  and  the  once  flourishing  missions  of  the  Jesuits,  with  their 
thousands  and  even  millions  of  converts,  have  perished  without  leaving 
a  trace  behind  them. 

The  third  method  of  propagating  the  gospel  is  a  process  of  education  ; 
that  is,  actually  teaching  the  people,  so  that  they  come  to  know  God 
and  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  and  the  way  of  salvation  through  him.  Un¬ 
less  God  works  miracles,  unless  he  subverts  all  the  revealed  or  known 
methods  of  his  operation,  this  is  the  only  means  by  which  the  nations 
can  be  converted.  This  is  the  method  which  all  Protestant  chuiches 
have  been  forced  to  adopt,  and  it  is  the  only  one  that  has  ever  been  suc¬ 
cessful.  No  instance  can  be  produced  of  the  establishment  of  the  gos¬ 
pel  in  a  heathen  land  by  any  other  means.  This  was  the  course  pursued 
by  the  faithful  Moravians  in  Greenland,  in  the  West  Indies  and  in  this 
country.  They  uniformly  established  permanent  missions  and  labor¬ 
iously  taught  the  people.  This  was  the  method  adopted  by  Elliot  and 
Brainerd.”  To  this  mode  of  procedure,  after  many  experiments  and 
failures,  the  missionaries  were  obliged  to  resort  in  Tahiti,  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  in  India  and  South  Africa. 

It  is  a  very  humble  and  self-denying  work  thus  to  teach  the  first  prin¬ 
ciples  of  the  oracles  of  God ;  it  is  a  very  slow  process  ;  there  is  no  eclat 
about  it ;  it  is  very  trying  to  the  faith  of  the  missionaries  and  to  the 
patience  of  the  churches.  But  it  is  God’s  appointment.  It  is  as  much 
a  law  of  his  gracious  dispensation  that  the  minds  of  men  must  be  im¬ 
bued  with  the  divine  knowledge  before  the  Spirit  quickens  them  into 
life,  as  it  is  a  law  of  his  providence  that  the  seed  must  first  be  properly 
deposited  in  the  earth  before,  by  his  rain  and  sun,  he  calls  forth  the 
beautiful  and  bountiful  harvest.  No  man  expects  to  raise  a  crop  of 
wheat  by  casting  seed  broadcast  in  swamps,  forests  and  jungles  ;  and 
just  as  little  reason  have  we  to  expect  a  harvest  of  souls  or  the  secure 
and  permanent  establishment  of  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands  by  any  such 
short  and  easy  method  of  disseminating  truth.  God  will  not  depart 


12 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


from  his  wise  ordinations  to  gratify  either  our  ease  or  love  of  excite¬ 
ment.  If  we  would  bring  our  sheaves  to  his  garner  Ave  must  go  forth 
with  tears  and  patient  labor,  bearing  the  precious  seed  of  truth. 

This  is  the  true  apostolic  method.  The  apostles  converted  the  world 
by  teaching.  They  established  churches  at  Jerusalem,  at  Antioch,  at 
Ephesus,  and  at  Rome,  just  as  we  are  now  laboring  to  establish  churches 
at  Lodiana,  Furrukhabad,  Agra,  and  Allahabad.  The  only  difference  is 
that  the  apostles  found  the  ground  cleared,  broken  up,  and  prepared  for 
the  reception  of  the  seed,  while  our  poor  missionaries,  with  but  a  small 
portion  of  their  strength  or  grace,  have  to  go  into  the  jungles  and  forests, 
and  clear  the  ground  as  Avell  as  sow  the  seed.  The  same  God,  however, 
who  wrought  effectually  in  the  apostles,  is  mighty  in  the  weaker  mes¬ 
sengers  Avhom  he  has  sent  to  do  this  harder  work.  In  both  cases  the  ex¬ 
cellency  of  the  power  is  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  But  do  not  let  us  add 
to  all  the  other  trials  and  discouragements  of  our  missionaries  the  heavy 
burden  of  our  impatience.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  work  to  be  done 
is,  of  necessity,  in  its  first  stages  a  very  slow  work — that  the  harvest  does 
not  follow  immediately  after  seed-time. 

That  teaching,  then,  is  the  great  vocation  of  the  Church,  that  by  no 
other  means  can  she  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  is  evident- — 1.  From 
the  express  command  of  Christ,  in  the  commission  given  to  his  disciples. 
2.  From  the  nature  of  that  system  of  doctrines,  the  knowledge  and  cor¬ 
dial  belief  of  which  are  essential  to  salvation.  8.  From  the  nature,  de¬ 
sign,  and  constitution  of  the  Church,  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures ;  and, 
4.  From  the  whole  history  of  the  Church,  and  especially  from  the  whole 
history  of  missions. 

It  may,  however,  be  asked.  What  is  meant  by  teaching  ?  What  is  this 
educational  process  which  is  so  necessary  to  the  propagation  of  the  gos¬ 
pel  ?  We  answer,  it  is  that  process  by  which  men  are  brought  really  to 
know  what  the  Bible  reveals.  The  end  to  be  attained  is  the  actual  com¬ 
munication  of  this  divine  knowledge.  There  are,  of  course,  different 
methods  of  instruction,  some  better  adapted  to  one  class  of  learners,  and 
some  to  another ;  no  one  of  which  should  be  neglected.  The  principal 
agencies  which  God  has  put  into  our  hands  for  this  purpose  are  the  pul¬ 
pit,  the  school-room,  and  the  press.  All  these  are  employed  in  Chris¬ 
tian  countries,  and  all  must  be  used  among  the  heathen.  The  danger  is, 
that  a  disproportionate  importance  be  given  to  one  of  these  methods  of 
instruction  to  the  neglect  of  the  others.  The  great  temptation  is  to  over¬ 
value  the  first.  This  arises  from  several  sources. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  Ave  are  apt  to  attach  to  the  word  preaching,  as 
used  in  the  Bible,  the  sense  which  it  now  has  in  common  life.  We  mean 
preaching,  the  public  and  authoritative  enunciation  of  the  gospel , 
whereas,  in  the  Bible,  the  Avord  comprehends  all  methods  of  communi- 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


13 


eating  divine  truth.  When  Paul  says,  “  It  pleased  God,  by  the  foolish¬ 
ness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe,”  he  does  not  mean  that  the 
public  oral  proclamation  of  the  gospel  is  the  only  method  of  saving  sin¬ 
ners  ;  but  that  God  had  determined  to  save  men  by  the  gospel,  and  not 
by  the  wisdom  of  this  world.  Human  wisdom  is  entirely  inadequate  to 
that  end,  as  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  and  therefore  God  de¬ 
termined  to  save  them  by  the  gospel,  which  Paul  calls  the  true  or  hid¬ 
den  wisdom.  Any  method  by  which  that  wisdom  is  communicated  comes 
within  the  compass  of  that  foolishness  of  preaching  of  which  Paul  speaks. 
The  parent,  the  teacher,  the  author,  are  all  preachers  in  the  scriptural 
sense  of  the  word,  so  far  as  they  are  engaged  in  holding  forth  the  word 
of  life.  The  power  is  in  the  truth,  not  in  the  channel  or  method  of  com¬ 
munication.  It  is  this  transferring  to  the  Bible  the  modern  restricted 
meaning  of  the  tvord  preaching  which  has  led  many  good  men  to  under¬ 
value  other  methods  of  instruction.  They  suppose  that  all  the  Scriptures 
say  about  preaching  is  to  be  understood  of  the  oral  enunciation  of  the 
gospel,  whereas  it  relates  to  the  inculcation  of  divine  truth,  in  any  and 
all  ways  by  which  it  can  be  conveyed  to  the  human  mind. 

2.  But  secondly,  we  do  not  make  due  allowance  for  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  state  of  the  heathen  and  that  of  our  own  people.  Because 
the  majority  of  persons  in  a  Christian  land  are  prepared,  in  a  good  de¬ 
gree,  to  understand  a  public  discourse,  we  are  apt  to  take  it  for  granted 
that  this  method  of  instruction  is  equally  adapted  to  the  heathen.  A 
moment’s  reflection,  however,  is  sufficient  to  correct  this  mistake.  A  cer¬ 
tain  degree  of  previous  knowledge  is  requisite  to  enable  us  to  profit  by 
public  discourses  ;  and  we  accordingly  find,  the  world  over,  that  the  effect 
of  public  preaching  is  just  in  proportion  to  the  previous  religious  train¬ 
ing  of  the  hearers. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  as  we  know  from  Scripture  and  experience  that 
many  single  sentences  of  the  word  of  God  contain  truth  enough  to  save 
the  soul,  and  as  the  Spirit  of  God  does  sometimes  make  one  such  sen¬ 
tence  fasten  on  the  conscience,  and  from  that  single  germ,  by  his  in¬ 
ward  teaching,  evolves  enough  of  the  system  of  truth  to  enable  the  sinner 
to  receive  Christ,  to  the  saving  of  the  soul,  it  is  very  natural  for  us  to 
be  anxious  to  scatter  the  truth  as  rapidly  and  as  widely  as  possible.  And 
this  is  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  why,  even  in  heathen  countries,  the 
public  proclamation  of  the  gospel  should  never  be  neglected,  but  on  the 
contrary,  should  be  as  assiduously  employed  as  possible  :  we  know  not  but 
God  may  give  some  one  truth  saving  power  in  some  poor  sinner’s  heart. 
Of  the  seed  sown  on  the  wayside,  among  the  rocks  or  thorns,  it  is  possible 
that  some  one  grain,  here  and  there,  may  take  root  and  bring  forth  fruit. 
But  no  harvest  is  ever  raised  in  that  way.  Neither  has  any  heathen  na¬ 
tion  ever  been  converted  by  the  itinerant  proclamation  of  the  gospel. 


14 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


To  raise  grain  enough  to  feed  our  families  or  to  sustain  a  nation,  we 
must  plough  and  harrow,  as  well  as  sow ;  and  to  save  souls  enough  to 
found  a  church  or  convert  a  nation,  we  must  slowly  and  laboriously  in¬ 
doctrinate  the  people  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

The  mistake  to  which  w'e  have  referred  is  one  into  which  the  mission¬ 
aries  themselves  almost  uniformly  fall,  at  the  beginning ;  and  those  new 
to  the  work  are  apt  to  think  that  their  more  experienced  brethren  rely 
too  little  on  preaching,  and  too  much  on  the  slower  method  of  instruction. 
A  missionary  from  Ceylon  told  me  that  soon  after  his  arrival  in  that 
field,  he  ventured  to  suggest  his  doubts  on  this  subject  to  the  oldest  and 
certainly  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted  of  his  brethren.  That  elder 
brother  was  then  ill,  lying  on  his  bed,  opposite  an  open  window.  He 
said  to  his  doubting  brother,  From  that  window  you  can  cast  your 
eye  over  a  number  of  villages,  embowered  in  trees  :  as  I  lie  here,  I  can 
in  my  mind  go  from  house  to  house  through  all  those  villages,  and  tell 
you  the  names  and  character  of  every  family.  In  a  course  of  years  I 
visited  them  so  often,  I  so  often  conversed  with  them  and  preached  to 
them,  that  I  know  them  all,  and  know  them  intimately  ;  yet  1  never  saw 
any  fruit  from  all  that  labor.  Their  minds  Avere  so  darkened,  their  moral 
feelings  so  degraded,  that  the  truth  could  gain  no  access,  and  made  no 
impression.  We  were  literally  forced  to  adopt  the  method  of  regular 
teaching ;  and  you  see  the  result.  A  Christian  nation  is  rising  up  around 
us.  Another  missionary  from  the  same  field,  who  had  been  twenty-five 
years  on  the  ground,  expressed  his  firm  conviction  that  if  God  would 
continue  to  bless  their  labors  for  the  next  five  and  twenty  years  as  he 
had  hitherto  done,  the  whole  Tamul  people  Avould  be  as  thoroughly  Chris¬ 
tianized  as  any  nation  in  Europe. 

Let  it,  however,  be  distinctly  understood  tha!t  we  advocate  no  exclu¬ 
sive  method  of  instruction.  The  business  of  the  Church  is  to  teach,  and 
to  teach  in  all  the  ways  by  which  the  truth  of  God  can  be  conveyed  to 
the  understanding ;  but  that  work  must  be  accomplished. 

We  have  endeavored  to  show  that  teaching  is  the  great  duty  of  the 
Church,  and  how  she  ought  to  teach  ;  the  only  other  question  is.  What 
is  she  to  teach?  Is  she  to  teach  secular  knowledge?  The  proper  an¬ 
swer  to  this  question  undoubtedly  is  that  the  Church  is  bound  to  teach 
the  Bible,  and  other  things,  only  so  far  as  they  are  necessary  or  import¬ 
ant  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  Bible.  This  exception,  however, 
covers  the  whole  field  of  human  knowledge.  The  Bible  is  a  wonderful 
book.  It  brings  everything  within  its  sweep.  Its  truths  radiate  in  every 
direction,  and  become  implicated  with  all  other  truth,  so  that  no  form 
of  knowledge — nothing  which  serves  to  illustrate  the  nature  of  God,  the 
constitution  of  the  universe,  or  the  powers  of  the  human  soul — fails  to  do 
homage  and  render  service  to  the  book  of  God.  We  cannot  teach  the 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


15 


doctrines  of  creation  and  providence  without  teaching  the  true  theory  of 
the  universe,  and  the  proper  office  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  we  cannot  teach 
the  laws  of  God  without  teaching  moral  philosophy ;  we  cannot  teach 
the  doctrines  of  sin  and  regeneration  without  teaching  the  nature  and 
faculties  of  the  soul.  Christianity,  as  the  highest  form  of  knowledge, 
comprehends  all  forms  of  truth. 

Besides  this,  every  false  religion  has  underlying  and  sustaining  it  a 
false  theory  concerning  God,  concerning  the  world,  and  concerning  the 
human  soul.  If  you  destroy  these  false  theories,  you  destroy  the  relig¬ 
ion.  The  Hindu  religion  cannot  stand  without  the  Hindu  astronomy 
and  cosmogony.  Science  undermines  the  pillars  of  heathenism,  and 
frightens  its  votaries  from  its  tottering  walls.  The  native  population  of 
Calcutta  is  beginning  to  quake  under  the  silent  operation  of  Dr.  Duff’s 
school  in  that  great  city.  They  feel  the  ground  trembling  beneath  their 
feet,  and  they  are  well  aware  if  the  truth  in  any  form  is  taught,  the  whole 
system  of  error  must  soon  crumble  into  dust.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
true  religion  necessarily  supposes  a  true  theory  concerning  God,  the  uni¬ 
verse,  and  the  soul ;  so  that  you  cannot  teach  the  Bible  without  teaching 
what  is  commonly  called  human  science.  All  knowledge  comes  from  God, 
and  leads  to  God.  We  must  remember  that  ignorance  is  error,  and  not 
merely  the  absence  of  knowledge.  The  mind  is  never  empty.  If  it  has 
not  right  views,  it  has  wrong  views.  If  it  has  not  right  apprehensions 
concerning  God,  the  universe,  and  itself,  it  has  wrong  ones.  And  all  error 
is  hostile  to  the  truth.  It  is  right,  therefore,  to  pull  up  these  noxious 
weeds,  that  the  seeds  of  divine  truth  may  the  better  take  root  and  grow. 

While,  therefore,  the  Church  is  mindful  that  her  vocation  is  to  teach 
the  Bible,  she  cannot  forget  that  the  Bible  is  the  friend  of  all  truth,  and 
the  enemy  of  all  error.  The  Church  is  the  light  of  the  world.  She  has 
the  right  to  subsidize  all  departments  of  knowledge,  those  principalities 
and  powers,  and  force  them  to  do  homage  to  him  to  whom  everything 
that  has  power  must  be  made  subservient.  She  has  always  acted 
under  the  consciousness  that  knowledge,  is  her  natural  ally.  She  is 
the  mother  of  all  the  universities  of  Europe.  Harvard,  Yale,  Nassau 
Hall,  and  a  numerous  progeny  besides,  are  all  her  children.  She  knows 
she  is  most  effectually  fulfilling  her  vocation,  and  honoring  her  divine 
Master,  when  she  is  most  effectually  bringing  men  to  know  him,  from 
whom  all  knowledge  flows  and  to  whom  all  truth  leads. 

It  is,  Christian  brethren,  an  infelicity  incident  to  the  prominent  exhi¬ 
bition  of  any  one  truth,  that  other  not  less  important  truths  are,  for  the 
moment,  cast  into  the  shade.  Because  we  have  insisted  on  the  import¬ 
ance  of  communicating  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  it  may  seem  as  though 
we  forget  that  the  truth  is  powerless  without  the  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit.  Must  we  ever  undulate  between  these  two  cardinal  points  ? 


16 


THE  TEACHING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


Because  the  Spirit  alone  can  give  the  truth  effect,  must  we  do  nothing  ? 
Or  because  the  Spirit  operates  only  with  and  by  the  truth,  are  we  sim¬ 
ply  to  teach,  and  forget  our  dependence  upon  God  ?  Cannot  we  unite 
these  two  great  doctrines  in  our  faith  and  practice?  Cannot  we  believe 
that  it  is  the  office  of  the  Church  to  teach,  and  the  prerogative  of  the 
Spirit  to  give  that  teaching  effect  ?  Cannot  we  be  at  once  diligent  and 
dependent,  doing  all  things  commanded,  and  yet  relying  exclusively  on 
the  power  of  God  for  success  ?  In  his  commission  to  his  Church,  Christ 
says,  “  Go  teach,  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  to  give  your  teaching 
effect.”  Here,  then,  is  at  once  our  duty  and  our  hope. 


